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Thursday, 14 March 2013

Dear PR - NO, I won't write for free

I've never been one to PR bash but as I've spent the last 18 years of my life employed in that very industry, promoting a plethora of brands, it wouldn't be quite right would it?

But enough is enough and as the number of active UK bloggers goes through the roof the ever desperate, insulting PR requests increase ten-fold.

I have the benefit of being able to see the situation from both sides of the fence but now it's quite frankly, out of control.

Here's just one example from the 37 PR requests that I received (for just one of my blogs) today. Names and brands have been changed to protect the guilty.

Hi Sian, I have an embargoed press release (below) that I thought would be perfect for your blog. Do give me a call for high-res images or more ideas and high-res images click on link (sic).

That's not my grammar going astray there...

Press release on snazzy new (embargoed product follows).

I love it. It's totally me so I ping an email back to say...

LOVE IT. Can you send me a sample so I can have a play and photograph it to the theme of my images?

PR's reply...

Hi Sian, I'm sorry but we have been inundated with requests and are really limited on samples as it's a new product. Is there any way you can work from the image in the release?

This is where I start to get really peeved. You see, I had a release from the same brand yesterday, about another brand new product, that was equally as awesome and equally me, that I would have loved to review.

Yep, I got the same reply. Inundated with requests, new product, use pics, blah, blah, blah.

Back to today, ANOTHER email lands, from the same brand about ANOTHER new embargoed product that would be perfect for me to feature on my blog. Only this one I don't like but as I'm already half way through my essay of a reply to the suggestion that I review from their press release pic I carry on.

Me...

Dear PR,

Thanks for coming back to me. I hope that you don't take this the wrong way but there really is little point sending out press releases to bloggers if you aren't willing to follow up with product samples.

We are inundated with coverage requests like this everyday but we are not magazines with publishing houses behind us (even though may of us have more readers).

Saying that you've been inundated by requests so you aren't willing to send me a sample, simply says to me that you don't think my coverage valuable enough to justify the return.

If that is the case, please don't spam me with one sided requests because they will not result in my blogging about your products.

If this is your definition of blogger outreach then you are way off track.

I pinned and mentioned the product in the release you sent yesterday (sorry inundated with product requests again) and it was heavily shared but as my coverage isn't worthy, I've removed the links and pics.

I'm sorry if this comes across as being stroppy, I really didn't intend it to. However, if your policy is to not send out samples to bloggers perhaps you should state that clearly in your releases (along with the option to be removed from your mailing list). Then everyone would know where they stand, you wouldn't be 'inundated with requests' and us bloggers wouldn't have our inboxes flooded with requests to sell our time, space and content for nada.

I'm guessing that you don't work for free, please don't expect us to do the same.

Kind regards,

Sian

To which I receive a swift reply explaining that the releases are for brand new products, that they really do have limited samples and they just didn't factor in that so many people would be interested.

Like seriously? I'm sure that this global brand isn't paying peanuts to be represented by this agency. Good job they have so much faith in the products they are promoting eh?

To end on a positive note, I was also offered an old product to review, which is nice and current isn't it? They don't want to upset me and really would like me to post a review on my blog.

I bet they do. The last I featured of one of their products my post sat at the top of Google Search for their brand name for a couple of weeks and has to date had over 18,240 views.

Perhaps I'm just being grouchy today? But I'm not convinced. Come on brands / PR's - step it up a gear and stop being so unworthy and insulting.

Rant over.

Out of interest, how many approaches like this one do you get? How do you respond?

See I get this from the other angle. I work in PR and speak with countless blogs a week. Some lovely and really friendly. Others won't give me the time of day.

I'd send products... I'd be helpful and efficient but some won't even answer my emails.

I understand where you're coming from... But us PR types are under a lot of pressure to get results. And if there is no product to send... That's not out fault usually that's a decision from higher up!

I am so with you, I have well read blog(s) I dont do reviews very often and only when relevant, I have inbox full daily of PR requests and now I must get five or more telephone calls a day following up emails and trying to persuade me to run the story or review. When I actually get a release (and yes i read them all) that has a relevant story/product and then follow up, to be told no product or worst of all no budget then frankly I despair. If client has no marketing budget left then sorry PR company either hasn't done their job properly or client shouldnt have wasted money on PR company.

And sorry Lorna but that is what you get paid for, and maybe quite a few of us are getting disillusioned because of the number of poor approaches we receive, and sorry but frankly I cannot answer everyone each day but those that are relevant get a response even if it is negative. If I feel the PR understands my blog and my audience then they deserve a response, if they send me something that is clearly not my target then why should i spend time trying to educate them?

I had exactly the same reply, EXACTLY the same. Why bother emailing me and offering me a sample if you don't have them to send.

Even more irritating recently was the approach I had who had done their homework on my blog, made me feel that they really wanted me to be part of something but when push came to shove it turned out they didn't have enough items. It is obvious that other bloggers with better stats etc also said yes and I understand that is the way the world works but why offer in the first place if I am not good enough.

I agree with the part about asking to review then not having products available... That's just silly.

You could say yes that's what I get paid for... But I don't see why there's such animosity against PR people.... We all want the same thing at the end of the day - to talk to people. Sorry you guys have had bad experiences but we're not all like that! Promise :)

Far to flipping many. A local "PR" contacted me recently and got upset when I pointed out she got paid to send me press releases and asking me to visit the shop. I tried to explain that if she'd asked me to meet over a coffee or have a chat about how we could help each other, I'd have been happy to discuss it.

She was just interested in throwing info out and wanting people to feature the business. I tried to explain to her how bloggers work and her reply was that she was offended that I thought she didn't know what she was doing. Said she wasn't interested in compensating bloggers for their time and that we should be grateful that she contacted me to feature the shop she was promoting and that I should do it for free, as other bloggers do. (um, who)

Then, she told me that she understands blogging very well from having started a blog, and although she hasn't got nearly as many readers as me, that I obviously don't know what I am doing as I am not prepared to travel and spend my time and money to visit the shop as it would be great for my readers and give them a fantastic breadth of what is out there in their field. All bloggers apparently spend money and time to go and visit businesses for the pleasure of promoting them. I suspect it's non blogger tutors in colleges that is the biggest problem with the PR contacts this last year as they are often all so similar.

The PR was not willing to learn how to approach bloggers and she's young and just starting out. I suspect she thinks me an uneducated housewife who landed lucky with some readers on my blog when my blog is my escape that gives me a penny or two and some lovely opportunities.

I think it hit a raw nerve with me as it was a local PR on a placement who was not willing to listen at all. FInal nail in the coffin was when I'd mentioned the website for the business was confusing and misleading, and she fired back that it wasn't even the business website, but only the owners design site with products on it. I tried to explain that it didn't matter if the site was old or not, that any search for the business brought it up and it was associated with the business whether they liked it or not.

LOVE IT. Can you send me a sample so I can have a play and photograph it to the theme of my images?

PR's reply...

Hi Sian, I'm sorry but we have been inundated with requests and are really limited on samples as it's a new product. Is there any way you can work from the image in the release?

This is where I start to get really peeved. You see, I had a release from the same brand yesterday, about another brand new product, that was equally as awesome and equally me, that I would have loved to review. Yep, I got the same reply. Inundated with requests, new product, use pics, blah, blah, blah."

I'm ready to name and shame on this one as the previous PR was amazing and really wanted to promote the brand effectively. The new approach has really p***ed me off, if I'm being honest. I've had the same response as you with regards to emails back and forth.

To be fair, Lorna, the brand in question KNOWS how much I love their product but their blogger outreach isn't doing anything for their reputation. From what I can work out they are approaching the *right* bloggers but not prepared to release samples. Their first email offered samples and a phone number to call to talk about promotional ideas. After I queried samples and promotional activity (and obviously Sian, and others, sent similar emails) they changed their press release twice to reword and then remove the "request samples" section.

Thanks for your comment Lorna. As I stated at the start of the post i'm a PR myself. I have been for 18 years and I deal with journalists, stylists and bloggers on a daily basis. To say that we are 'under pressure' doesn't really cut it in my opinion and I'd actually go so far as to say WTF?

Pressure, no samples, clients fault, the dog ate my homework.... all equate to the same thing. Excuses.

Here's an idea. Look at your press list, do a spot of research, work out which journos and bloggers you want to forge ongoing relationships with and make an effort to do that. Its not rocket science to work out that the resulting coverage will be something you can be proud to show to your client.

If you are too pressured you could just take the lazy mass press release approach, piss off loads of people who have previously given the brand great coverage in a trade off for being able to tick the 'Blogger Outreach' box on your monthly report.

I think this needed to be said. I am a said blogger who will help someone out if I really like the product and the person contact me personally etc. my time as you know is precious but I don't blog for reviews (they are nice though) but I recently been taken a mug by a said new out mumprenuer to find out she had done this the past 2yrs. Thus not new and actually approached over 30 bloggers this time. I felt like a mug and that someone took advantage. Honestly I know how the real world is but I think this is sad.

Well done lovely I think has to be said and only you could put it so eloquently. X

Really interesting post. For me, I will only blog about products which I have tried, because I know my readers trust what I say and believe my opinion. How can I write about a product honestly if I've never used it and only seen a (studio shot) picture on a press release?

I'm all about calling out PRs. The industry is getting a bad name and it's because people who head up PR agencies know nothing about digital, therefore they don't think it's a priority for staff. Can't tell you how many people in PR I've met who said 'I don't GET social media" and "twitter is a waste of time". Um, WTF? I see fire when I hear this, especially when I know that their clients then pay them big bucks to do social media and online PR for them. Either these people are masters of persuasion (probably) or they think they are social media experts because they know how to find a pretty picture to slap on Facebook. I swear, sometimes I feel like hosting a PR-bashing meetup as so many of them are clueless.

This is such a great post, I wish all PRs would read. I get so many similar e-mails every day too, and as you say they want coverage for their products for free. Why should I blog about their products for free? Also, how can I write about a product from pictures, not seeing and testing it? I wish some PRs wouldn't consider bloggers stupid and cheap!

Yep it's up to the PR to push back on ridiculous client/agency demands. i've been asked in the past to identify and outreach to 200 travel blogs in like 3 days time for bloggers to republish a heavily branded infographic. It was hell on earth. Not only is it time consuming, it's also inefficient and demoralising - and potentially reputation damaging for the agency and myself. Instead develop real cross-benefiting relationships with a small core group of bloggers, get better sustained results.

PRs: If you don't know how to do blogger outreach properly, please get training from people with experience. Don't fake it to win an account.

I agree if they email to offer samples then they should be available. If they are limited then they should target their approaches to match their resources. I'm getting increasing numbers of emails like this and email management is taking up ever more time (which I don't get paid for). Also, it doesn't help the brand if bloggers get hopes raised then dashed, it doesn't build goodwill.

I had the most ridiculous experience with a PR this week, who offered to pay me for a sponsored post, and since the brand was relevant and I needed the cash I agreed.Then I got an email to say "sorry, we've realised your blog is US-based and we are looking to work with UK bloggers only on this".I LIVE IN SCOTLAND. There is nothing American whatsoever about my blog. And anyone who even bothered to read the "about me" section would realise that. I emailed back to say this, but got no reply.Made me wonder if they'd just made a blunder and run out of money, so they were looking for any ridiculous excuse to dump me from the project.I don't care what this PR company offers me, I won't be working with them.... ever.

I seem to have been getting a lot more approaches recently, and while I flatter myself that it's because my blogs are fabulous (ahem), I do wonder if the real reason is that PRs and SEO agencies are getting more push back from the big bloggers, such as yourself, on things like this. I can't help thinking some of them are specifically going after "smaller" or newer bloggers in the hope that they aren't as clued up about things like this. I pretty much delete press releases and infographics (is it just me that seems to get loads of those at the moment?!.) straight away, as I simply don't have the time for toing and froing. Your point about bloggers not having armies of staff to publish things is a very valid one that I think a lot of people forget or don't understand. The PRs I have chosen to work with have acknowledged that fact and accommodated me brilliantly. More of that sort, please!

Donna, thanks for commenting - now i'm going to witch switch sides and stick up for PR's. The email you had about a sponsored post will most certainly have come from and SEO agency. They are the ones employing the underhand black-hat link building techniques and not pr's.I'm not interested in backlinks and keywords. I'm interested in brand visibility via good quality writing from bloggers who have influence and reach.

The irony to this example is that I have previously written about this brand (for free) on a few occasions. I love their products, i've bought them with my own money. The previous pr did her ground work, established that I might be a good fit for her and then reached out to me on a personal level. She got good coverage and I wouldnt hesitate in working with her again..... new agency have it so wrong.

As for SEO and link builders, don't get me started on them. Not only are their tactics unethical, they also lie and entice newer bloggers to to break legal requirements to disclose. This is wrong.

The comments on this post are highlighting an important point, and that's the fact that many bloggers, both seasoned and new alike, still don't know the difference between PR companies and SEOs, which isn't helped by the fact that certain huge brands, who you'd think would have nothing to do with dodgy SEOs (Interflora, I'm looking at you...) are still employing these people to work on their behalf.

I would just like to say that I represent a brand. Whenever we have a new product we ALWAYS send it to the bloggers on our list to review. No question about it. We don't suggest it to bloggers before we have sufficient samples but we do have a carefully selected blogger list and would not dream of NOT making a sample available. A brand is a 'living, breathing' thing (well perhaps not in the literal sense!) and a brand would not for one moment deny a magazine the opportunity to see/feel/shoot (in the photographic sense of the word) the 'thing'.

I have a sneaky feeling I know which brand this is Sian but I'm not saying anything here in order to protect the innocent. :0)

I totally agree - again a fellow PR as well as blogger it's a real eye opener to see things from both sides of the fence. I get about 20-30 emails a day, I'd say one maybe is targeted, useful, friendly and worth reading. I like working with the same agencies - there are a handful who really know their stuff - probably not PC to name drop but Tesco for one are amazing - very responsive, helpful and have also been hugely supportive of charity and other good causes I've put their way. What annoys me is - a) PRs that assume I have hideous stretch marks and piles and nothing but that to think about. b) PR's who make an offer but never reply when you accept. c) PRs who have funny ways of using the terms sponsored, guest and featured posts and get het up about the differences and what they want and are willing to pay for - or not. It is a minefield - there isn't a rule book, but like you say we are the unpaid editors, directors and writers - we should get to call the shots and be treated nicely!!

I totally agree - again a fellow PR as well as blogger it's a real eye opener to see things from both sides of the fence. I get about 20-30 emails a day, I'd say one maybe is targeted, useful, friendly and worth reading. I like working with the same agencies - there are a handful who really know their stuff - probably not PC to name drop but Tesco for one are amazing - very responsive, helpful and have also been hugely supportive of charity and other good causes I've put their way. What annoys me is - a) PRs that assume I have hideous stretch marks and piles and nothing but that to think about. b) PR's who make an offer but never reply when you accept. c) PRs who have funny ways of using the terms sponsored, guest and featured posts and get het up about the differences and what they want and are willing to pay for - or not. It is a minefield - there isn't a rule book, but like you say we are the unpaid editors, directors and writers - we should get to call the shots and be treated nicely!!

I absolutely love your email - best response I reckon anyone has sent to a PR! I don't work with outside companies as you probably know so don't really have experience on a personal level, but I do see many, many bad PR approaches landing in my inbox and if I'm in the right mood, I will respond. I understand it isn't possible for PR's to trawl through all the thousands of blogs they contact to see who does and who doesn't work with PR's, but I do get several each week that state they understand I don't work with brands, outside companies etc, but thought their product might change my mind. It doesn't. So many reasons why I won't work with PR's, SEO's etc, and on behalf of the bloggers who do work with them, I also wish these companies would stop assuming bloggers are idiots and start realising they too are trying to earn a few pounds.

I've had this also! The latest, being the worse... that I recieved the sample, with a message saying that I had to then send back the sample after it had been reviewed!!! This was not stated when I agreed to review the product and seriously don't know what to do about it now!